Paper details
| Paper authors | Diego Fernandez Otegui |
| In panel on | Privileging Forces in the Humanitarian System: Power and Marginalization |
| Paper presenter(s) will be presenting |
In-Person / |
Abstract
During the past year, the COVID19 pandemic has shown us how ineffective standardized approaches are. They lead to an unequal provision of services (including the distribution of vaccines), disproportionally affect minorities and those more strongly affected, they generate animosities between groups of people, and ultimately, undermine the democratic essence of our modern societies. As a consequence, both humanitarian scholars as well as practitioners have increasingly acknowledged the need for more diverse systems.
This presentation will add to this conversation by introducing the audience to the benefits of exploring how inequalities in the sector, might be generated by the way in which policy makers enact different symbolic constructions to interpret what needs to be done. It presents the idea of ‘institutional logics’ as a theoretical framework that allows to advance the research and teaching of humanitarian action, by paying attention to how historically and culturally determined notions affect the relationship between multiple actors and might even undermine coordination efforts.
During the first part of the module, I will present and explain the Institutional Logics framework. It will be followed by a practical method that can be used by policy makers and practitioners alike, to become more conscious about their own cognitive biases. A series of tools will also be provided to help emergency management agencies to be able to adjust their business models and be more sensitive to the needs of the people they serve.
